The price of Victory

Meanwhile, Howard has no regrets, because the deployment “further deepened” our alliance with the United States. Andrew Bolt tells us that Victory is at hand! and anyway, there have been no Australian combat deaths in Iraq.

More than four thousand American soldiers killed. Many more thousands physically and/or psychologically injured. Thousands of Iraqi citizens dead. Many more thousands displaced from their homes. Billions (possibly trillions) of dollars spent. For what?

Our alliance with the United States is deeper – because it had been so strained before Iraq. And the rate at which people are dying has slowed – somewhat. John Howard made a “personal decision” to commit Australia’s military to an unauthorised invasion of Iraq – examining Howard’s accountability in an international legal tribunal would be a fair price to pay for that decision.